Monday, November 19, 2012

Steve Weaver's Negotiating Exclusive Songwriting Agreements

I have been meaning for some time to write about my friend
Steve Weaver’s book Negotiating Exclusive
Songwriting Agreements.This is not
really meant to be a review because I am biased.I reviewed Steve’s manuscript and was honored
to write a blurb for the back of the book.

What I said
in my blurb is true.There are so many
worthless books on the music business and precious few books that tell you
exactly what stuff means and how it works.Steve’s book is a step-by-step analysis of an exclusive songwriting
agreement, meaning he analyzes each
paragraph of the agreement from both the writer’s perspective and the
publisher’s perspective and explains why each party asks for certain things and
resists certain things.This is really
important information for anyone who is trying to get a handle on how these
agreements are supposed to work.One of
the other things I said in my endorsement was that I wish this book had been
available at the beginning of my career.As a young lawyer, it really can
be difficult figuring out how certain entertainment contracts are supposed to
work and it can be difficult to know when you are asking for too much or too
little. However, this book is not just for attorneys.Anyone with more than a passing interest in
music publishing can benefit from this book. The only other book that I have
found as helpful as this is Randy Poe’s A
Songwriter’s Guide to Music Publishing and I don’t know if it’s still in
print.

Steve
has indicated that he hopes to write other books in this series “Entertainment
Law Mentor” and I think he could do a great service for the industry if he does write similar
books on such topics as recording
agreements, producer agreements, manager agreements, etc.